- WASHINGTON -- President George
W. Bush hit back at Democratic critics of his administration's job-creation
efforts on Tuesday, branding them as "economic isolationists"
who would raise new trade barriers and damage the US economy. Advertisement
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- The comments came as part of what appeared to be a co-ordinated
administration effort to respond to growing political pressures over the
slow pace of US job growth, which has helped push Mr Bush's likely Democratic
opponent, John Kerry, ahead of the president in several recent polls.
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- In a speech in Virginia, Mr Bush said: "There are
economic isolationists in our country who believe we should separate ourselves
from the rest of the world by raising up barriers and closing off markets.
They're wrong. If we are to continue growing this economy and creating
new jobs, America must remain confident and strong about our ability to
trade in the world."
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- Robert Zoellick, the US trade representative, similarly
warned Congress on Tuesday that "given the fact we're now in a stage
of an economic recovery, the absolutely worst thing we could do would be
to turn to economic isolationism".
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- Mr Zoellick told the Senate finance committee that increasing
US exports to countries such as China and India, encouraging foreign investment
in the US, and helping workers adjust to the loss of some jobs abroad were
better responses than "bureaucratic interventions that will increase
prices to our people".
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- Mr Bush's comments came less than a week after the Senate
passed legislation aimed at preventing US government contracts from being
carried out by workers in developing countries.
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- The administration has been uncertain over how to respond
to the continued slow pace of job creation. Mr Bush has sought to distance
himself from recent remarks by a senior economic adviser, Gregory Mankiw,
that outsourcing of jobs is just a part of trade and therefore good for
the US economy. But the administration now appears set to mount a more
robust defence of companies that move US jobs abroad.
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- "US companies with foreign affiliates now account
for about 58 per cent of our exports," said Mr Zoellick. "So
the companies that do business overseas are also exporting overseas."
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- "I think the challenge is: How do you help people
in a way that doesn't hurt or kill other jobs?" he said, pointing
out that the US currently runs a $60bn annual trade surplus in the service
sector, which has seen a growing number of jobs moved to lower-wage countries.
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- © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2004.
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